Eglise Clinet 2019

The 2019 l’Église-Clinet has a brilliantly defined bouquet with echoes of the equally showstopping Trotanoy that I tasted just a couple of hours before. Crystalline red fruit and hints of blood orange intermingle with crushed stone and truffle. The palate is medium-bodied with an immediately seductive, satin-like texture belying the backbone of this Pomerol. Lightly spiced and fanning out with intention on the finish, this will, as I wrote before, stand as the perfect testament to Denis Durantou as his daughters carry on his legacy.

Score: 98

Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2025-2065 01 February 2022

The 2019 L'Eglise-Clinet is destined to be remembered as Denis Durantou's last vintage before he passed away in May 2020. It is a fitting testament to the late winemaker. It is blessed with a bewitching bouquet laden with intense, vivid red berry fruit suffused with liquorice, black pepper and clove scents. Extremely complex. The palate is wonderfully proportioned with fine tannins that frame the layered black and red fruit, lightly spiced with hints of tobacco and cracked black pepper on the finish imparted by that seasoning of Cabernet Franc. Quintessential l'Eglise-Clinet, it will give half a century of drinking pleasure and the perfect way to remember and raise a toast to one of Pomerol's finest vignerons.

Score: 97 - 99

Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2025-2065 01 June 2020

The 2019 L'Eglise-Clinet is a stunning, drop-dead gorgeous beauty. Finesse and power come together in a Pomerol that towers with dazzling intensity. Gravel, dried herbs, flowers, mocha and licorice soar out of the glass. In 2019 L'Eglise-Clinet is a vertical wine, a wine of stature, class and pedigree that will reward those lucky enough to own it with many years of very fine drinking. It's impossible to taste the 2019 and not think about the late Denis Durantou and what he achieved in his last vintage. Daughters Constance and Noémi Durantou seem to really understand the legacy they have been entrusted to honor and then build on themselves.

Score: 98

Antonio Galloni, Inside Bordeaux Maturity: 2029-2059 01 February 2022

The 2019 L'Eglise-Clinet, Denis Durantou's last vintage, is also very clearly one of the wines of the year. A Pomerol of soaring, majestic intensity L'Eglise-Clinet dazzles from start to finish. Layers of dark fruit, gravel, spice and dried flowers unfold over time. I followed this sample for several days and it never lost any intensity over that time. I find the 2019 incredibly elegant and polished, but then again, I also tasted it a few months later than normal because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Merlot was harvested from September 18 to 26, while the Franc came all in on the 26th. Readers who can find the 2019 should not hesitate, as it is a true masterpiece. Denis Durantou's 2019s are absolutely brilliant across the board. My tasting was obviously bittersweet, as Durantou lost his battle with illness just a few weeks prior. Denis Durantou was one of the most intriguing characters in Bordeaux. I can't say I knew him well, but I always enjoyed tasting with him, as he was a person that spoke more with his eyes than with words. Things were implied rather than overtly stated. So, I tasted the 2019s with daughters Constance and Noémie over Zoom, in typical 2020 fashion. The Durantou sisters describe 2019 as a year with an early flowering and homogenous ripening that led to small, concentrated berries and higher pHs than normal. Temperatures were kept cool in the cellar, where both alcoholic and malolactic fermentations took place over cuvaison of 21 days (for all wines), in a reductive environment with little oxygen. From top to bottom, the Durantou 2019s are positively stellar. Don't miss them!

Score: 97 - 99

Antonio Galloni, Inside Bordeaux 01 June 2020

If great wine is about emotion, as we so often say it is, then this is a wine to savour. The last vintage under Denis Durantou, who passed away in May 2019, it will quite rightly be celebrated. But it also stands very much on its own, as a great Pomerol in a vintage where the plateau wines of this appellation have really stood out. A teasing mix of power and a feather-light touch, that trick that Durantou managed to pull off time and time again, one of a handful of winemakers to really get that right. A serious wine, more so than many in Pomerol this year, with tannins that pull you back and slow things down (a character that you see in Petite Eglise this year also), emphasising the slate and crushed stone character to the texture. Liquorice and cassis, blackberry, and a cooler blueberry note, wrapped up in dark black chocolate. This deserves its high score, one that I have only given to handful in this vintage. Is it also given in tribute to Durantou? Honestly, I don't know, and if so he deserves it. 70% new oak. 98-100.

Score: 98 - 100

Jane Anson, Decanter.com Maturity: 2029-2050 08 May 2020